origins of psych

• the emergence of psychology 1) the behaviorists

  1900-The Behaviourists

  -the scientific nature of introspection was being questioned

  -subject and varied data; no general principles

  -“scientific investigation should only focus on what can be seen and measured”
• the emergence of psychology 2) cognitive approach

  1950-The Cognitive approach

  -digital resolution->mind as a computer

  -theories about memory & perception tested using experiments ->scientific
• the emergence of psychology 3) biological approach

  1980s- The Biological approach

  -technical advances in brain scanning allows us to study psychological processes live
• Ev Wundt and Introspection - subjective methods

  strength: subjective methods

  -used subjective methods in his pursuit of the scientific process

  ->strength as it places real human experience at the forefront of the objective study of cognitive processes

  -idea of introspection-self observation of thoughts and feelings, structuralism

  -this sets his work apart from the 'hard' sciences as it draws from inner thoughts and feelings

  --> enhances its mundane realism
• Ev Wundt and introspection- unscientific elements

  limitation: certain other elements would be considered unscientific today

  -the process of introspection is not replicable as it relies on the subjective focus on individual sensations and perceptions + thoughts could be hidden

  -Wundt himself encountered difficulty replicating sessions of introspection

  -->This in turn limits the reliability of introspection as a scientific method